


Blue blood, Red ice

by Birooksun



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Canon Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Red Ice (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 21:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18147392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Birooksun/pseuds/Birooksun
Summary: What happened to set Todd off enough to completely break Kara? She seems to be in denial over Alice but does Alice know what she is? A small glimpse into their lives before the game started.





	Blue blood, Red ice

Alice ran into her room, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible and sinking to her knees. She muffled her cries in her fox doll as she thought over what she had just seen. Kara lying on the kitchen table, one arm hanging off the side as blue blood dripped down it. Alice tried to keep quiet as she thought of the soft smile Kara gave her before turning away. 

 

“Why does Daddy have to hurt us?” She asked Mr. Fox as she heard him breaking something downstairs. “Why can’t we just have a happy family?” Alice crawled over to her fort and curled up in there, waiting until she eventually fell asleep in the comfort of her tent. 

 

The next morning Kara was there, gently shaking her awake as if nothing had happened the night before. Alice looked up at her friend, rubbing sleep out of eyes as she searched for any signs of distress in Kara’s face. There was none and she just sighed at the realization that she didn’t even know what to look for. 

 

Alice went through the motions, picking at her breakfast while her dad ate and Kara just stood to the side and watched her. Someone came over and she was hustled out to the backyard as she heard her dad start yelling at someone. The door closed behind her before she could make out their words. She sat down on the back porch and played with Mr. Fox for a little bit before voices from the other side of the fence caught her attention. 

 

She crouched down and slowly made her way to the fence, sitting with her back to it and watching Kara put up the laundry. The voices were easier to hear now. “I can’t believe he pretends that  _ thing _ is his daughter. It’s just wrong.”

 

“I know right? I almost feel bad for it. Not like they can leave like his wife and kid did.” Someone else responded to the first voice. Alice froze, who were they talking about? She looked down to Mr. Fox and wondered about the little girl they spoke about. 

 

“It’s not even like the kid is dead or anything. If he cleaned up he could see his real daughter again.” The two voices continued to talk but Alice tuned them out and hugged her fox even tighter. She closed her eyes and saw Kara lying on the table again before she opened her eyes again and ran over to Kara. Alice quickly hugged her around the middle, ignoring the surprised pause before Kara placed her arms around her. She wanted to comfort Kara, but here she was comforting Alice instead.

 

“Kara, is everything going to be okay?” It came out as just as whisper as she pulled away from Kara, looking up and searching her face for any kind of response.

 

She paused before speaking, smoothing down Alice’s hair as she did so. “I think so Alice. I think we’ll be okay.” She turned and walked back inside the house with the empty laundry basket, leaving Alice standing outside and clutching her fox. 

 

The little girl gave one final glance over at the fence, wondering again who they were talking about before walking back into the house. She couldn’t stop the small shriek of fear that escaped her at seeing her dad beating on Kara. Alice quickly scrambled out of the room and out of the way. She ran over to the stairs and sat down on them, quickly clapping her hands over her ears. It muffled the shouting, but not enough for her. 

 

Alice felt torn between peaking down the stairs or keeping her eyes screwed shut. She just wanted it all to stop, even Kara making it stop somehow. Anything other than her dad beating on Kara while she just took it. She didn’t want to keep her eyes closed though, because everytime she did that image of Kara lying on the table and  _ bright blue _ blood dripping down her arm stared back at her. 

 

“Get down here!” She almost fell down the stairs in her haste to follow his shouted order. She couldn’t help but glance past him to see Kara. Just slowly picking herself up off the floor with white patches smoothly fading back to flesh. Alice couldn’t help but shudder at that. It felt unnatural for all signs of his abuse to be gone so quickly. She looked up at her dad, failing to hide her fear when she saw he was still angry. “Think you’re too good for me?” She shook her head.

 

“N-no?” Alice kept looking between her dad and Kara, hoping he wouldn’t hurt her. Hoping Kara would somehow save her. She knew Kara wouldn’t, she knew in some deep part of her that this was just a cycle the three of them were trapped in. After her dad snapped back to his senses and held her, crying and apologizing, Alice just stood there. Not pushing him away, but not returning the hug either. She felt so tired, even after her cheek stopped hurting. 

 

Later that night Kara tucked her into bed. Alice reached out and grabbed Kara’s wrist before she left though. “Kara? Will we ever be safe?” Kara looked away, not wanting to tell the truth. She didn’t want to lie to Alice either though. Alice let go after a moment and turned away, listening to Kara silently walk away. Alice waited for a little bit before slipping out of her room, walking quietly as she wondered what Kara even did at night. She heard a loud sound and jumped before realizing it was her dad’s snore. 

 

“Alice? What are you doing up? You should be in bed.” Kara was sitting on the stairs, mirroring Alice’s position from earlier that day. Alice shrugged and sat down next to Kara. “You should get back into bed before Todd catches you.” She left out the fact that a beating would follow, they both knew it would. 

 

“I couldn’t sleep.” Alice leaned against Kara’s side, closing her eyes for a moment when the android placed an arm around her shoulders. It felt nice, she didn’t want that feeling to end. She looked up at Kara, watching the blue circle on her head turn colors in the dark. “Why do we have to stay here?” It turned red and Kara frowned. She didn’t want to answer. “I heard some of the neighbors talking. A family left the dad, why can’t we do the same?” She sat up, turning her whole body to Kara. “Why can’t we just leave? Run away and be happy somewhere else?”

 

Kara’s circle was still a steady red as she turned to Alice, gently grasping her hands as tears fell down her face. “We can’t leave Alice.” She brushed a tear back before standing up and guiding Alice back to her room. “There’s somethings we just can’t do. Neither of us can leave Todd.” 

 

“Why not?”

 

“Androids have to obey their owners Alice. Todd is my owner. I have to obey him.” Alice felt angry at those words. She pulled away from Kara and glared up at her. Kara gave a small sigh and stopped walking, “You just don’t understand Alice. It’s the way things are.” 

 

“The way things are.” Alice repeated before turning away from Kara and climbing into her bed. She curled up on her side, ignoring the weight of Kara sitting on the bed.

 

Kara just lightly rubbed her back and shoulders, feeling the girl slowly relax before falling asleep. She thought over Alice’s words, how the little girl was so scared and wanted to get away. She made up her mind and checking that Alice was still asleep, stood up and walked downstairs. She stood over Todd and watched the man snore in his sleep. 

 

She squared her shoulders and pushed him awake. “Todd. We’re leaving.”

 

He shook his head as he sat up, staring up at her with bloodshot eyes. “The hell are you talking about you piece of plastic?” He got off the couch and stood up, staring Kara down. “You can’t  _ leave _ . I own you, you’re both mine.” 

 

Kara heard a stair creak and turned towards the sound. She missed Todd throwing a punch at her. The force of it knocked her to the ground, she looked up to see him towering over her, his fists curled up by his sides. Kara slowly started to stand up, “It’s not right. This isn’t right.”

 

He hit her again, then again and again, not letting her get back up. “You don’t get to speak to me that way! You broken piece of crap. I’m going to fix that.” She looked past Todd to see Alice, woken up by the shouts and standing at the bottom of the stairs.

 

“No! Stop!” Kara wasn’t sure anymore if it was her or Alice shouting it, but her little girl came running over to grab at Todd’s arm as Kara’s vision filled with error messages. She saw Todd backhand Alice before hitting Kara some more. Kara could only look at Alice as she felt confused.

 

Alice had been thrown into the corner of the table and was picking herself up. She saw a drop of blue blood on the floor in front of her and wondered how some of Kara’s blood had gotten so far away. Her head felt wet and it  _ hurt _ . Alice put her hand up to her head and couldn’t help but scream as she saw the bright blue blood on her finger tips. 

 

Todd stopped beating on Kara, she had stopped moving a couple minutes ago. He stood up and looked at Alice, she started to back away from him. She was- an android? She looked down at Kara, broken and bleeding out on the floor. “This is all her fault!” Todd yelled as Alice turned away and ran back up to her room.

 

She curled up in her fort, clutching Mr. Fox to her chest as she tried to settle her panic. She was an android, Kara was gone. She realized right then, she was the  _ thing _ the neighbors spoke about. The little girl who had left with her mother- Kara and her replaced them. She cried into Mr. Fox, she could never leave. 

 

Alice found herself just going through the motions, everything felt muted without Kara. She tried not to look Todd in the face anymore, she didn’t want to end up like Kara had. After about two weeks Todd left the house and came back with Kara. Alice sat at the bottom of the stairs and watched as Todd explained to Kara what she had to do. When Kara only glanced at her with no recognition, Alice turned and ran back up the stairs. 


End file.
